Blonde Ale Extract Recipe (Turned out too Hoppy)

[Homebrewnewbie190]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and just began my first homebrew by making a blonde ale extract recipe recipe called for 5 gallons and I scaled it down for 2.5 gallons due to my fermenter size.

I followed the recipe exact but it only called for one hop addition 60 minutes using cascade hops. I ended up using a whole bag of cryo hop pellets 1oz. 1 addition for bitter, another for flavoring and the last was dry hopping for aroma.

I let the beer ferment for 7 days. There was good C02 activity. I bottled it after one week. My fermenter includes a spigot so I did not secondary ferment.

When I bottled it, I noticed the color was very light. On day 3 I tried it at room temperature and got hoppy aroma and flavor the color was good. However, on day 7 I took one of the bottles carbonating and put it in the fridge. Once I poured it, the carbonation was good the mouth had some malty flavors but after I noticed a bitterness left. The aroma which I smelled on day 3 at room temp seemed to be gone.

I'm just wondering if this will get better after another week of carbonation? Or did I add too many hops?

Also, could leaving it in the fridge be removing some of the aroma/flavors?

Any feedback would be appreciated so I can continue to improve.

 

[RM-MN]

I'm just wondering if this will get better after another week of carbonation? Or did I add too many hops?

Also, could leaving it in the fridge be removing some of the aroma/flavors?

Yes, yes, and yes. Another 2 weeks in the bottles at room temp will allow a lot more yeast to settle and take more of the hop particles with it. That will tame the hoppiness some but the bitterness isn't going to change much. When you halved the recipe you should also have halved the hop additions.

What we perceive as flavor is primarily the aroma which is carried to our noses by the aromatic oils. When you chill your beer you limit the movement of these oils. Also when you chill the beer, more of the yeast/trub/hop particles will settle out. Chilling makes this happen quicker than just letting the bottles sit at room temp. It also causes some of the proteins that cause "chill haze" to settle out so your beer can clear out more. I usually leave beer for 48 hours or more in the refrigerator which lets this have time to happen.

 

[Homebrewnewbie190]

Yes, yes, and yes. Another 2 weeks in the bottles at room temp will allow a lot more yeast to settle and take more of the hop particles with it. That will tame the hoppiness some but the bitterness isn't going to change much. When you halved the recipe you should also have halved the hop additions.

Thanks for the suggestion and I'm going to leave the other bottles at room temperature for two more weeks and compare it. I went a bit hop heavy on my first brew which ended up backfiring in having an overly bitter beer. I will definitely be making adjustments on the next one!

What we perceive as flavor is primarily the aroma which is carried to our noses by the aromatic oils. When you chill your beer you limit the movement of these oils. Also when you chill the beer, more of the yeast/trub/hop particles will settle out. Chilling makes this happen quicker than just letting the bottles sit at room temp. It also causes some of the proteins that cause "chill haze" to settle out so your beer can clear out more. I usually leave beer for 48 hours or more in the refrigerator which lets this have time to happen.

Thanks, I didn't know chilling the beer limited the movement of aromatic oils. Also, I did notice that my beer had a darker color. I'll definitely leave it in the fridge for 48 hours.

I've attached a couple of photos. The first one (image 2) was taken on the first day I bottled it which was noticeably lighter and the second one (image 1) is on the 7th day I bottled it and is noticeably darker after only a couple of hrs in the fridge.

 

[RM-MN]

The lighter color is probably from light being reflected by the suspended yeast. Cooling the beer makes more of it settle.

 

[govner1]

If you used cryo hops did you also halve the amount of hops vs the amount originally called for in the recipe?
Also, for future reference, I wouldn’t use cryo hops for the 60 minute ( bittering) addition. The oils are very volatile in cryo hops and you’ll boil them all out. Consider standard hop pellets for bittering @ 60 minutes and use cryo hops for later additions and dry hopping.

 

[Homebrewnewbie190]

The lighter color is probably from light being reflected by the suspended yeast. Cooling the beer makes more of it settle.

That makes total sense!

If you used cryo hops did you also halve the amount of hops vs the amount originally called for in the recipe?

No, I did not halve the amount of hops. I divided the 1 oz bag for bittering, flavoring and aroma. If I use cryo hops in the future, should I be halving the amounts compared to the recipes?

Also, for future reference, I wouldn’t use cryo hops for the 60 minute ( bittering) addition. The oils are very volatile in cryo hops and you’ll boil them all out. Consider standard hop pellets for bittering @ 60 minutes and use cryo hops for later additions and dry hopping.

I didn't realize that the cryo hops are better for later additions and have been using them for bittering. I probably should have waited before my second brew which I did the same thing. Would you recommend using hop extract over hop pellets for bittering?

Thanks again for the feedback!

 

[govner1]

A couple of things to remember with cryo hops. They average double the AA’s of regular pellet hops (22 AA avg) and the oils are very volatile and will boil away quickly. Take a look at this re using cryo hops: https://www.yakimachief.com/homebrewing-with-cryo-hops/
If you’re considering using hop extract you need to be very careful with how much you use since the extract is about 66AA’s! One ml will add 10 IBU’s.

 

[govner1]

As a follow up I just tapped one of the kegs of my Black IPA brewed using cryo hops.
I buttered with Simcoe then added cryo Citra and Eukanot for flavor and aroma later in the boil. I also dry hopped at high krausen and when the krausen fell with a mixture of both.
It turned out very well! Very hoppy but not harsh at all. Also great hop aroma.